Coordinated in situ measurements of plasma irregularities and ground based scintillation observations at the crest of equatorial anomaly

First comparison of in situ density fluctuations measured by the DEMETER satellite with ground based GPS receiver measurements at the equatorial anomaly station Bhopal (geographic coordinates (23.2°N, 77.6°E); geomagnetic coordinates (14.29°N, 151.12°E)) for the low solar activity year 2005, are presented in this paper. Calculation of the diurnal maximum of the strength of the equatorial electrojet, which can serve as precursor to ionospheric scintillations in the anomaly region is also done. The Langmuir Probe experiment and Plasma Analyzer onboard DEMETER measure the electron and ion densities respectively. Irregularities in electron density distribution cause scintillations on transionospheric links and there exists a close relationship between an irregularity and scintillation. In 40% of the cases, DEMETER detects the irregularity structures (dNe/Ne ? 5% and dNi/Ni (O⁺) ? 5%) and GPS L band scintillations (S4 ? 0.2) are also observed around the same time, for the low solar activity period. It is found that maximum irregularity intensity is obtained in the geomagnetic latitude range of 10–20° for both electron density and ion density. As the GPS signals pass through this irregularity structure, scintillations are recorded by the GPS receiver installed at the equatorial anomaly station, Bhopal it is interesting to note that in situ density fluctuations observed on magnetic flux tubes that pass over Bhopal can be used as indicator of ionospheric scintillations at that site. Many cases of density fluctuations and associated scintillations have been observed during the descending low solar activity period. The percentage occurrence of density irregularities and scintillations shows good correspondence with diurnal maximum of the strength of electrojet, however this varies with different seasons with maximum correspondence in summer (up to 66%) followed by equinox (up to 50%) and winter (up to 46%). Also, there is a threshold value of EEJ strength to produce density irregularities ((dNe/Ne)_max ? 5%) and for moderate to strong scintillations (S4 ? 0.3) to occur. For winter this value is found to be ∼40 nT whereas for equinox and summer it is around 50 nT.     

Atmosphere sounding by GPS radio occultation: First results from TanDEM-X and comparison with TerraSAR-X

On 21 June 2010 the TerraSAR-X satellite was joined by the TanDEM-X satellite. A Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) experiment using the twin satellites has been carried out to estimate the precision of GPS atmospheric soundings. For the Day Of Year (DOY) 330–336, 2011, we analyze phase and amplitude data recorded by GPS receivers separated by a few hundred meters in a low earth orbit and derive collocated atmospheric refractivity profiles. In the altitude range 10–20 km the standard deviation between TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X refractivity does not exceed 0.15%. The standard deviation is rapidly increasing for lower and higher altitudes; close to the surface and at an altitude of 30 km the standard deviation reaches 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively. Systematic deviations between TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X refractivity in the considered altitude range (0–30 km) are negligible. The results confirm the anticipated high precision of the GPS RO technique. However, the difference in the retrieved refractivity in the lower troposphere for different Open Loop (OL) signal tracking parameters, altered onboard TanDEM-X for DOY 49–55, 2012, calls for an in depth analysis. At the moment we can not exclude that a potential bias in the OL Doppler model introduces a bias in our retrieved refractivity at altitudes <8$<8$ km.     

Investigation of ionospheric response to two moderate geomagnetic storms using GPS–TEC measurements in the South American and African sectors during the ascending phase of solar cycle 24

The responses of the ionospheric F region using GPS–TEC measurements during two moderate geomagnetic storms at equatorial, low-, and mid-latitude regions over the South American and African sectors in May 2010, during the ascending phase of solar cycle 24, are investigated. The first moderate geomagnetic storm studied reached a minimum Dst value of −64 nT at 1500 UT on 02 May 2010 and the second moderate geomagnetic storm reached a minimum Dst value of −85 nT at 1400 UT on 29 May 2010. In this paper, we present vertical total electron content (VTEC) and phase fluctuations (in TECU/min) from Global Positioning System (GPS) observations from the equatorial to mid-latitude regions in the South American and African sectors. Our results obtained during these two moderate geomagnetic storms from both sectors show significant positive ionospheric storms during daytime hours at the equatorial, low-, and mid-latitude regions during the main and recovery phases of the storms. The thermospheric wind circulation change towards the equator is a strong indicator that suggests an important mechanism is responsible for these positive phases at these regions. A pre-storm event that was observed in the African sector from low- to the mid-latitude regions on 01 May 2010 was absent in the South American sector. This study also showed that there was no generation or suppression of ionospheric irregularities by storm events. Therefore, knowledge about the suppression and generation of ionospheric irregularities during moderate geomagnetic storms is still unclear.     

载波相位辅助的GPS动态单点定位算法综述

对载波相位辅助条件下应用于全球定位系统（Global Positioning System,GPS）动态单点定位的各种算法进行了综合分析与比较。首先简要介绍定位算法中的基本公式与观测模型;然后分别对周跳修复与滤波解算两部分所应用的各种算法进行详细介绍并比较其性能与适用范围;最后对尚待解决的问题及可能的发展方向进行了总结。     

小步长低阶Collocation方法轨道积分性能研究

介绍了Collocation方法的原理及误差构成,以Collocation方法在逐历元滤波轨道解算中的应用为切入点对小步长低阶Collocation方法轨道积分的性能进行了研究。分别就二体问题及真实GPS星座卫星轨道为对象进行了一系列验算,得到了一些有益结论：就积分方法本身性能而言,Collocation积分方法较传统数值积分法精度要高且稳定性要好;在一定长度的积分步长范围内,将小步长低阶Collocation方法用于滤波轨道解算是可行且有效的。 但在积分步长很小的情形下,从计算效率方面考虑,不推荐使用Collocation方法;利用小步长低阶Collocation方法取代大步长高阶方法能提高效率且可抑制蚀现象引起的积分结果发散。经试验表明：选用积分步长为900s的4阶方法是合适的。     

捷联惯导与星跟踪器组合导航算法研究

捷联惯导与小视场星跟踪器构成惯性/天文组合导航系统,核心思想是利用星体跟踪器的高精度测角信息设计滤波修正算法对捷联惯导的导航姿态、方位和位置误差进行滤波估计并修正,以限制捷联惯导系统导航误差随时间的发散,最终提高系统长航时导航的导航精度。在分析小视场星体跟踪器量测量与SINS导航误差之间关系的基础上,设计了两种不同的组合导航算法：位置+方位修正算法和误差角组合导航修正算法。在此基础上对两种算法的导航精度进行了理论分析,并通过长航时仿真飞行数据进行了仿真验证。结果表明：位置+方位修正算法不受载体的位置误差的影响,更适用于星体跟踪器间断工作的情况;误差角组合算法不受载体姿态误差的影响,更适用于SINS初始位置误差得到有效修正的情况。     

导航解算中的有色噪声及其协方差矩阵自适应拟合

使用Kalman滤波进行动态导航定位解算需要涉及函数模型和随机模型, 而在实际应用中, 精确的函数模型和随机模型很难直接给出, 因此, 动态Kalman滤波的精度和可靠性将会受到函数模型误差和随机模型误差的影响. 在假设观测噪声和动力学模型噪声主要是具有一阶自相关特性的有色噪声的基础上, 提出了一种基于移动窗口的有色噪声函数模型和随机模型的自适应拟合法. 给出了计算有色噪声估值和噪声协方差矩阵的表达式, 并利用实测数据验证了模型及算法的可行性和实用性. 计算结果表明, 该算法能有效抵制有色噪声对导航滤波结果的影响.      

GNSS多频观测对定姿精度的影响分析

针对单历元定姿的精度问题,对多频双差观测模型下的定姿精度进行了理论推导,分析了影响定姿精度的各种因素,并着重研究了GPS和Galileo系统下多频观测值对定姿精度的改善程度。理论分析和仿真实验均表明．相比于单频定姿,多频观测可以显著提高定姿精度。     

An alternative Shell inversion technique - Analysis and validation based on COSMIC and ionosonde data

Multi-channel Global Positioning System (GPS) carrier phase signals, received by the six low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) program, were used to undertake active limb sounding of the Earth’s atmosphere and ionosphere via radio occultation. In the ionospheric radio occultation (IRO) data processing, the standard Shell inversion technique (SIT), transformed from the traditional Abel inversion technique (AIT), is widely used, and can retrieve good electron density profiles. In this paper, an alternative SIT method is proposed. The comparison between different inversion techniques will be discussed, taking advantage of the availability of COSMIC datasets. Moreover, the occultation results obtained from the SIT and alternative SIT at 500 km and 800 km, are compared with ionosonde measurements. The electron densities from the alternative SIT show excellent consistency to those from the SIT, with strong correlations over 0.996 and 0.999 at altitudes of 500 km and 800 km, respectively, and the peak electron densities (N_mF₂) from the alternative SIT are equivalent to the SIT, with 0.839 vs. 0.844, and 0.907 vs. 0.909 correlation coefficients when comparing to those by the ionosondes. These results show that: (1) the N_mF₂ and h_mF₂ retrieved from the SIT and alternative SIT are highly consistent, and in a good agreement with those measured by ionosondes, (2) no matter which inversion technique is used, the occultation results at the higher orbits (∼800 km) are better than those at the lower orbits (∼500 km).     

多径干扰下GPS/INS跟踪环路的一种高斯码相位鉴别器

针对载体在多径信号的影响下,传统码相位鉴别器不能实时有效鉴别出码相位误差,提出一种高斯码相位鉴别器构建方法。在GPS/INS深组合模式中,接收机码相位鉴别器的构建将改变传统设计方法。INS系统利用GPS接收机产生的即时码相位信息,建立INS系统码相位鉴别器,该INS码相位鉴别器用于辅助GPS接收机码相位鉴别器,构建高斯码相位鉴别器,有效降低码相位跟踪误差。仿真结果表明,与传统的码鉴相器相比,高斯码相位鉴别器减小了噪声方差,能有效提高鉴相精度,从而在多径干扰下提高定位精度。